John Feehery: Speaking Engagements

Going Out of His Way to Irritate Women Voters

Posted on November 19, 2009

It was bad enough that he beat the most viable female Presidential candidate in our nation’s history. Now, it seems that the President is going out of his way to irritate the fairer sex in our nation.

Most men like me already distrusted Barack Obama. It is no shock to anyone that white men voted overwhelmingly against candidate Obama in the last election, while women voted overwhelmingly for him.

What is shocking is seeing how the Obama Democrats are now seemingly going out of their way to irritate working women, and especially working mothers.

How do I count the ways?

Well, there was the screw-up on swine flu vaccinations. They told mothers that they had to get their kids immunized. And then, they failed to produce enough of the vaccine to meet the demand that they themselves created. That is pretty irritating on a very personal level.

They then allowed the health care thing to get completely screwed up with an unnecessary abortion fight. (Unnecessary, because there is no reason why the federal government should be taking over the entire health care system.) That alienated the President’s most passionate supporters, pro-choice women.

Then, they allowed a panel that they picked to completely muddy the waters on mammograms. Should women check for breast cancer? Should they not? Are you kidding me? Of course, they should check to see if they have breast cancer. On a macro-level, it might make sense to have fewer people in to see their doctor if they feel a lump in their breast. It leads to lower costs. But on a very personal level, it is a completely stupid decision not to check. And most women (and most men for that matter) make these decisions through the prism of their own personal experiences. The Obama Administration opened themselves up to the charge that they were promoting the first step to health-care rationing.

And now, the President’s team is targeting cosmetic surgery and other cosmetic improvements for a special tax. My wife calls it the Bo-Tax, because it will make botox more expensive. You want to really make the ladies angry? Tell them they have to pay the government a special tax if they want to look more beautiful through the wonders of cosmetic surgery.

I am a guy, and sometimes I unintentionally irritate my wife, and sometimes I do it on purpose. It never turns out particularly well for me when I do it on purpose.

The President might be in the doghouse with women voters for a long time after these tone-deaf decisions.